Department of Theater/Dance at UC Santa Barbara Presents MIDDLETOWN, Now thru 11/22

The Department of Theater/Dance at UC Santa Barbara kicks off our commemorative season with a meditation on life and death and all of the lives that occupy the space in between in Will Eno's Middletown: A Play, directed by Tom Whitaker. Winner of the inaugural Horton Foote Prize for Promising New American Play, author Will Eno describes the play as "trying to look at the accumulation and effect of the tiny moments that make up our lives - and how we are constantly vulnerable to these tiny moments, which may in fact change the angle of our entire life, or not." Middletown: A Play runs tonight, November 14 - 22, 2014 in the Performing Arts Theater on the UC Santa Barbara campus.

Eno describes his impetus for the play: "We spend a lot of time thinking about the end and the beginning, in kind of self-aggrandizing ways. We talk about the miracle of birth and the mystery of death. But, by definition, all of our lives take place in the middle of those two sort of unknowable events, in this great and often unexamined middle... I wanted to write a play that put some thoughts and feelings in the air about the miracle and the mystery and that alluded to deep and unknown forces. But then really just have people going to the store and fixing the sink and going through the normal things of looking for love and getting up in the morning. Because that's how we live."

Deep and human in its details, director Tom Whitaker was drawn to poetic and universal writing in the play. "It's a post-Beckett Our Town, for our time. It is both funny, and deeply moving. The language is very particular and wonderful, moment-to-moment. Particular like Beckett is particular. And we see all the tiny and not so tiny moments of the characters lives against the mysterious larger tapestry of life."

With scenic designs by new faculty scenic designer, Greg Mitchell, the set has drawn on the artist Hopper. Modest homes, a main street named Main Street, starry skies, and smiling residents are comforting and familiar images giving Middletown the feeling of a normal anywhere town, nestled within the hugeness of the universe.

The cast of twelve UCSB acting students are given a wonderful acting opportunity with this play. A mix of undergraduate, graduate, seasoned and fresh acting students, gives Middletown a balanced, dynamic environment.

We all are in this precious life together, and the small moments of our lives can be important turning points. Middletown drives home the fact that the details in our lives take place against a larger fabric that is the mystery of life - and that mystery is ineffable, and can never be completely articulated in words.

MIDDLETOWN: A PLAYby Will Enodirected by Tom WhitakerNov 14 - 15, 18 - 22 / 8 PMNov 15 - 16, 22 / 2 PMUCSB Performing Arts Theater

Tickets:

$17 General Admission

$13 UCSB Students/Faculty/Staff/Alumni, Senior/Child